My Work

Pharmacist by day. Photographer by night. Consider this
my personal photo album and journal combined with a little business information. I hope that it gives you sense of
who I am and what I'm all about.

Related Galleries

Related Documents

It became clear early on in the Class C-1 state volleyball tournament championship match between Ord and Kearney Catholic that the winning team would have to earn it.

Errors were few and far between Saturday as the two LouPlatte Conference rivals staged an epic five-set battle at the Devaney Sports Center in their third meeting of the season.

In the end, top-ranked Kearney Catholic’s Kylie Thiele broke a 7-7 tie in the deciding set with a kill, and the Stars survived a wild 25-17, 30-28, 21-25, 23-25, 15-12 win against the No. 2 Chanticleers to capture their fourth straight state title.

“It’s never easy,” Stars coach Kris Conner said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to bust down the door to get to the finals or have been there four straight times. This was a load off the seniors’ shoulders. I’m really proud of how they handled it.”

Early in the match it seemed as if the Stars would cruise to victory. Five kills each by Courtney Shundoff and Madison Squiers boosted the Stars to a relatively comfortable first-set win.

The second set turned into a slugfest, with both teams trading kill-for-kill.

Ord had five chances to close out the set, yet Kearney Catholic fended it off each time.

Two Thiele kills and an Anna Squiers kill thwarted set points. And after a Chanticleer hitting error, Kearney Catholic’s Sarah Oldfather pounded a kill to put the Stars up 29-28. An Ord attack on the following point was just long, giving the Stars a 2-0 lead in sets.

“The second set was a tough one,” Ord coach Wendy Alexander said. “Our kids showed a lot of character coming back after losing that set.”

Carson, who was held to four kills in the opening two sets, caught fire in the third and fourth. The junior collected five and seven kills, respectively.

Welniak added nine kills in the fourth set and Bruha chipped in with seven as Ord evened the match with strong attacks from all angles.

“There were a lot of big kills and big blocks out there,” Alexander said. “Both teams played a clean match. We had a few errors late we’d like to have back. We couldn’t get Carson the ball early in the match. Kudos to their defense for making it tough.”

Three Stars had double-digit kills, led by Thiele’s match-high 24 and Shundoff’s 17.

Madison Squiers, who finished with 13 kills and nine digs, reflected on the accomplishment of winning four straight titles.

“Not many people have one, so to have four is a great feeling and a great accomplishment,” she said. “We had some nerves in there, but we gutted out that long game (against Scotus) yesterday, so we knew we could come back and finish. Being a senior is kind of sad, but I’m really glad we got to end it on a good note.”

Ord will be making its ninth appearance in the state tournament, along with its fourth appearances in the last nine years.

And coach Wendy Alexander said she believes two themes have helped the Chants go 29-3 on the season and make a return trip to the state tournament.

Those themes are “Trust” and “TPOGIS,” which stands for “The Price of Greatness is Sacrifice.”

Alexander said those things have helped the Chants, who play No. 5 Grand Island Central Catholic Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Lincoln North Star.

“We have referred to both of these themes throughout the year,” Alexander said. “They’ve all made sacrifices, especially at the net because we have a lot of depth there and they can’t all be on the court each match, but I think it’s made them stronger. My three outsides are each other’s biggest fans. And we finish each practice with a creed reminding each other of our trust and sacrifice to this team.

“I think the trust component has really made a difference in our defense. They work hard at being disciplined on defense so their teammates trust them.”

Setter Morgan Alexander, Wendy’s daughter, is one of the reasons for the Ord’s success. The four-year starter has dished out a C-1 state tournament best 943 assists.

“Her strength is making quick decisions, throwing the defense off, while getting a hitter 1-on-1 for us,” coach Alexander said. “She believes in her teammates and she’s going to do everything in her power to see them succeed.”

The younger Alexander’s belief in her teammates has the Chants very balanced. That has been one of Chants’ strengths.

They have five players with over 100 kills during the season. Andrea Carson leads the way with 289 kills, while Ali Welniak has chipped in 205. Danielle Bruha, Kate Grint and Katelyn DeRiso had 178, 136 and 106, respectively.

Coach Alexander has brought in numerous players during the season and feels they have done well. She said depth is one of their biggest strengths.

“Our practices are extremely competitive, and often times the scout squad holds our starting lineup from reaching their goals,” she said. “It’s taught us to bring your best every day to practice. In our lineup, you don’t have room to take a practice off. You’ve seen us rotate three middles and three outsides throughout the season. We have a lot of trust in our players coming off the bench.”

The Chants are looking for a little redemption against GICC. During the finals of its home invite Sept. 19, Ord led 23-15 in the third set only to see the Crusaders rally to win the third set and match 2-1 to give the Chants their first loss of the season. Coach Alexander said the players are looking forward to the rematch with GICC and knows what Ord needs to do to come away with a victory this time.

“There is no question we need to serve better and be more confident at the net,” she said. “We served 75 percent in the last set of that match and took safe swings instead of finishing the match. We played to not lose rather than to win. But I do think that loss was a turning point for us.”

In order for Ord to have success not only against the Crusaders but the entire weekend, Alexander said there are a few things that need to happen.

“Each player needs to look in the mirror and not let the person they see hold them back,” she said. “We don’t have to be perfect, we have to scrap for every point. That’s the plan.”

STROMSBURG — If the Class C1-4 district final here Thursday had been a semester test, one couldn’t be blamed for thinking Ord stole the answers.

The No. 2-rated Chanticleers answered every Pierce run, controlled the momentum at nearly every point in the match and earned their second trip to state in the last three years with a 25-22, 25-20, 25-19 sweep.

“We definitely had the opportunity to win any of those sets tonight, but I think we just had a little mental breakdown at certain points in each set,” Pierce coach Katlyn Donovan said. “That ended up costing us. I’m pleased with how we played tonight. We fought tooth-and-nail with Ord, and they area a phenomenal team.”

After Ord ran out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set, Pierce put itself in position to take an early lead in the match by rattling off a 6-1 run to go up 7-6. Bluejays then maintained the lead through most of the set, extending to 15-12 when Ord’s attack fell wide.

Following a timeout, the Chants rattled off three quick points to tie the score and followed a kill by Pierce’s Jaci Brahmer with a 6-2 run to go up 24-21. Freshman Maggie Brahmer answered for Pierce with a block at the net, but Ord setter Morgan Alexander put an end to the set with a tip that fell for one of her three kills.

“I just told them we needed to relax. We were a little bit tight — a little bit hesitant. But once we got into the rhythm of our game, I thought the girls did a very nice job,” Ord coach Wendy Alexander said. “Besides early, we didn’t let them get any long runs, we were able to side out on a consistent basis and I thought our out-of-system balls were very good tonight. That’s something we take pride in.”

Late in the second set, it was another Alexander tip that put an end to a Pierce run.

Down 19-13, the Bluejays battled back to tie the set at 20 when Shelby Bretchsneider found an empty spot on the floor. But Alexander landed a tip in the middle of the Pierce defense to ignite a 5-0 run that ended the set.

“Funny thing is I said, ‘Be ready for the setter tip,’ and she tipped it right after,” Donovan said. “I think that was the turning point in that second set — just a little mental breakdown on our side.”

In the third, Pierce led for most of the first nine points but was never able to sustain a rally after the Chants turned a 9-8 deficit into an 18-14 lead on a Bluejay attack error.

Junior Andrea Carson notched a double-double for Ord with 16 kills and 12 digs. Alexander and Allie Welniak also had double-doubles. Alexander finished with 37 set assists and 13 digs, and Welniak added 13 kills and 12 digs as Ord improved to 29-3.

“I thought we had some great leadership that just took control. Allie Welniak just cut loose on the outside. She put down some big boomers as well as Andrea Carson,” Wendy Alexander said. “We have a lot of competition in our gym. Our practices our very competitive. I don’t think they realize the kind of talent that they have, which is awesome.”

Jaci Brahmer finished with 10 kills and three blocks, Bretschneider had seven kills and Maggie Brahmer had five blocks. Emily Simmons handed out 18 set assists as the Bluejays finish the season with a 20-13 record after opening the season 1-3.

Eight of the Bluejays’ 13 losses came to teams who will be at the state tournament.

“I can’t say enough how proud I am of them. The seniors were great for us this year,” Donovan said. “We got third in conference, which was great for us, and this is the first time in my tenure we’ve been to a district final. We’ve improved so much from the beginning of the season to end, and that’s all I can ask.”